Social Learning Theory

Social Learning Theory

1. It was created in 1977 by the psychologist Albert Bandura.

2. Proposes that humans can learn by simply paying attention and watching other people.

3. It is based on three important bases.

   • Observational Learning.
     • Children tend to observe people around them in multiple ways; then, people that are observed are called models
   • Mental states.
     • The mind state and motivation are determinants to learn or adopt a behavior.
   • Learning Does Not Necessarily Lead to Change.
     • Learning something new may not reflect a change in a person’s behavior.

4. It has four mediational processes.

   • Attention.
     • This involves the level of attention that we pay to the behavior before imitating it.
   • Retention.
     • This step deals with the capacity that we have to remember the behavior.
   • Motivation.
     • In this step, we use observational learning to see the consequences of other people’s behavior instead of doing it ourselves.
   • Reproduction.
     • This means the ability that we have to reproduce the behavior, it influences us towards the decision of whether or not imitate a behavior.

5. Strengths and Weaknesses.

   • Strengths
     • Different Ways of Learning.
       • The learner can learn as much through direct experience as through observation.
     • Explains a large number of behaviors.
       • Through the Social Learning Theory, it is possible to know the different behaviors of human beings.
     • Change in Environment, Change in the Child.
       • One of the primary strengths of this theory is its flexibility to explain differences in a child's behavior or learning.
   • Weaknesses.
     • Less accountability.
       • This theory can be weakened by conditioning the the child that he is not responsible for his behavior
     • Ignoring Standard Milestones.
       • Social Learning Theory doesn't hinge upon a distinct progression of learning and growth that is chronological or age-dependent.
     • Does not take into account physical and mental changes.
       • The theory fails to give the necessary relevance to the physical and mental changes that the child is presenting